The art of the present invention relates to the railroad construction and maintenance fields in general and more specifically to apparatuses and devices within those fields that assist an employee or contractor with new track construction, track maintenance, track rehabilitation, and track salvage operations.
Modern railroad track typically uses rails made of hot rolled steel with a profile of an asymmetrical rounded I-beam. Known as flat bottom rail or T-section rail, it is the dominant rail in worldwide use today. The rail has a top or head portion, a middle or web portion, and a foot or base portion which can rest directly on the railroad tie or the corresponding plate. When the rail is installed, the base portion is generally angled in relation to a horizontal plane and this angle is known as the base angle. Most typical rail sections or ‘sticks’ are approximately 39 feet long unless its continuous welded rail (CWR), in which case, each rail or ‘stick’ can be 500-600 feet long and welded to another rail or ‘stick’.
For numerous reasons, track rail sections must be routinely moved and positioned or repositioned in relation to other rail sections or in relation to the cross-ties such that the rail profile is maintained thereby considerably enhancing rail service life. Also, one of the most common causes of railroad accidents or derailments is rail roll-over. The forces generated between the moving train wheel and the rail can be resolved into two components, a lateral force (L) and a vertical force (V). If the moment generated by the lateral force (L) is greater than the moment generated by the vertical force (V), the rail can rotate about its corner or roll-over.
When a rail has rolled-over, especially in a derailment scenario, the traditional repair procedure is for a group of workers, commonly known as a “rail gang” to slide a chain under the foot or base portion of the rail and hook one end of the chain onto the high side of the rolled rail at the foot or base portion of the rail. The other end of the chain is then wrapped around a cribbing bucket attached to a backhoe and rolled or pulled by the cribbing bucket back away from the rail and towards the backhoe. This tightens the chain and rolls the rail back down into or onto one or more steel plates in order that the rail may be re-attached to the cross-tie using one or more railroad spikes. The one or more steel plates in conjunction with the spikes hold the rail to the cross-ties. This traditional repair procedure, utilizing a chain, cannot be used to reposition or set bent rail back into the one or more plates where it could be re-attached using one or more spikes. Additionally, the chain used in this traditional repair procedure can and does periodically break creating a dangerous safety concern.
The present art rail rolling apparatus and method of use allows rolling, repositioning, and setting of rails without the deleterious effects of the prior art. The apparatus generally comprises a back-end portion, a middle portion, and one or more hooks. The back-end portion is capable of receiving a removable attachment, such as a cribbing or other type of bucket or implement of a typical piece of mechanized earth moving equipment such as a backhoe. The one or more hooks are capable of receiving a base portion of a railroad track rail. The present art rail rolling apparatus improves upon and replaces the prior art chain for rail roll-over and repair and eliminates the safety concerns related to breaking chains. The present art also allows for productivity increases since using the present art rail rolling apparatus is much faster than using chains to roll or reposition a rail. Additionally, the present art rail rolling apparatus and its method of use is capable of setting bent rail back in position into the one or more plates. As discussed, the prior art repair procedures which utilize chains does not allow the bent rail to be precisely rolled back into the one or more plates. Also, the present art rail rolling apparatus and method of use is capable of lining track without the requirement of touching the rail with the cribbing bucket. That is, contacting the rail with the cribbing bucket, as is typical with the prior art track lining method, can cause chips and cracks in the rail which could cause track failure and/or train derailment.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rail rolling apparatus and method of use which allows for the safe repair of a rolled-over rail, the safe repair of a bent rolled over rail, and the safe movement of a rail section, such as when lining track.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a rail rolling apparatus and method of use which is capable of repairing rolled-over rail more quickly than with traditional apparatuses and techniques and therefore significantly increasing productivity and reducing costs for railroad service crews.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a rail rolling apparatus and method of use which is capable of repairing bent rolled-over rail without the replacement of the bent rail sections as is typically required with the traditional means.
A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a rail rolling apparatus and method of use capable of also lining track without having to touch the top or head of the rail with the bucket of the backhoe thereby eliminating any potential damage to the rail.